The Dangers Of Social Media

We live in a world where the new way to communicate is via Internet. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media networks have taught us ways to connect with one another and have become our new way of entertainment. As reported by influencer marketing agency Mediakix in David Cohen article, “How Much Time Will the Average Person Spend on Social Media During Their Life?” confirms that the average person will spend more than five years of their life on social media according to Mediakix study. But, people may not see the subliminal effect that social media is having on us, with the concern of sexting and cyberbullying slowly wearing down latest problems are occurring because of this evolving medium; it is affecting people happiness without them even realizing it. Social media has become the foundation for people to showcase their lives 24/7 keeping their followers up-to-date with their “extravagant” lifestyle. With young adults’ use of social media, they are obsessed with the idea of appearing happy even if they aren’t happy and this is having an impact on their mental-wellbeing.

Social media has emerged and has been rapidly expanding since the development of the internet. Many people use this free internet application to read news, keep in touch with friends and so forth but it has some effects on the young generation. As apps like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter continue to get popular there are an increased amount of young kids who create accounts to be recognised as cool. They want to be like older brothers, sisters and or friends who seem to have hundreds if not thousands of friends on these applications. However social media plays a critical role in stranger danger, privacy and cause kids to have access to vulgar content and can cause addiction and or depression.

As of 2016, suicide has replaced homicide as the second-leading cause of death among U.S. teenagers because of social media bullying. Social media has taken a significant toll on our society, one that affects millions of students around the globe. Every day, online platforms are gaining in popularity. So much that study now shows that the average person spends more time each day on their phone and computer than they do sleeping! While social media offers some benefits in regards to education and relationships, the risks of cyberbullying, social anxiety and identity theft far outweigh these advantages.

In today’s society, computers and mobile devices have become a big part of our everyday routine. The internet is also a part that many of us have learned to appreciate. Social media, for instance, is a part of the internet that has created a way for people to communicate across the world. However, our teenagers that have taken on the use of social media to the extent that if it is not monitored properly, it can have some very bad effects on their overall well being. Even though social media is known as a great social network tool, its harm in our society. Teenagers use of social media is of particular importance not only because they are vulnerable, but also because they are among the biggest users of social networking.

In this day and age the amount of teen almost constant use of social media and smartphones have reached extraordinary levels. Ages 13-17 go on these types of thing almost several times a day it's starting to become apart of the daily life. The amount continues to climb to even greater numbers each and everyday.

Recently more teenagers than ever have multiple social media accounts, and it’s not uncommon to see a group full of teens sitting together, glued to their phones, sitting in silence. The author of Hazards of Social Media, Brittany Tate, includes that studies have shown that this could be bad for both mental and physical health reasons. Teenagers that are hyperactive texters and excessive users of social media are more likely to try cigarettes, try alcohol, be binge drinkers, use illicit drugs, be in a physical fight, and have sex.

Everyday more and more people become conditioned to their social media. This has become a bigger problem in today’s society. The reason this is a bigger problem is because of the children who grow up with technology at a hand’s reach. They have no idea what happens in the real world when their devices are glued to their hands.People are becoming more and more addicted to social media.

In the offline world, communities are much more easily managed, and rules enforced. However, in the virtual world that is the internet, rules become arbitrary. It is scary how much we have incorporated social media into our lives, to the point we are almost dependent on it. While social networking sites may have started off as places where we could share thoughts with our peers and communicate with our family, they has since evolved into wild beasts. Privacy has become practically non-existent, security concerns are arising, people are becoming more isolated; these, among many others are the side effect of these so popular social networking sites. But what’s worse is most people can’t see the dangers associated with them, and even those who do are too afraid to be left out.

"I am thankful my childhood was filled with imagination and bruises from playing outside instead of apps and how many likes you get on a picture" (Anonymous). In the 21st century, everyone's lives revolve around the next message or notification received from various social networking websites. It has become a societal norm to be glued to a screen, and face to face conversations are starting to become extinct. This is becoming a global issue as the world is constantly creating new ways to entertain people via technology. Out of all dangers, children are the most at risk when it comes to social media. Social media is extremely problematic to people everywhere because of the constant threat of online bullies, decreased privacy, and sexual

Social Media is dangerous. Predators uses websites like social network, sexting, online gaming and chat rooms to harass and can lead to many dangerous situations. Many students send inappropriate pictures, videos of themselves to their friends and they send it to other friends. Anonymous people can see these pictures and send hurtful messages to teenagers. It could harm teenagers because students in school begins to call names and bully them which increases students to commit suicide.

Walking down the hallways of any high school can be a maze. Majority of students have their heads down looking into their phones. Awkward moments are avoided by constantly refreshing social media apps to look like things are being done. Phones and social media are a huge part of life these days, “94 percent of teens who go online using a mobile device do so daily. 71 percent of teens say they use more than one social media site.” (HHS). More than half the teen population is using social media websites and the effects of them can be life long. Everything from bullying to harassing someone can occur on these sites. Along with being judged by others and judging yourself based on what other people post as well. Social media can be a great place to share things with friends but it can also be a place that lowers self-esteem to rock bottom.

First of all, social networking is dangerous for children, teens, and adults. To be specific, in stating the dangers for teens, (Allen) states, “ But in other cases, disclosure reaches a level that is troubling for parents and those concerned about the safety of online teens, and once children put this information online, they will never get it back”. This quote explains that teens will put their personal information on social media and once they put this information online, it will always be there. The information can always be found and brought back up. This is causing parents to be worried for their children because sometimes this can mean that teens will put their location online. There is also a way that apps can track individuals if they

Power is the goal of most users of the Internet, and they are persistent to make their opinions known on social media platforms. Our constant practice of opening our email, blogging, and utilizing the many social media sites has opened us up to the potential danger of being controlled. Interacting with the search engines that do not hold privacy as a priority, can give sensitive information to those who have less than honorable intentions in mind. Because we often need to collaborate on projects, we use WEB Sites that enable easily changeable text to get the message and our thoughts expressed. Sites such as Wikipedia can be used as an information data bank to create documents. These texts can easily be altered by other users to fit another topic. Although this site has dangerous and ethical flaws, there are some good to its existence. One advantage is that you can look at all the writing that was done previously and view how the writing had continued its development.

Growing up as a child, I witnessed how quickly people have adapted to technology in everyday life. Computers were used for business, and there were only house telephones in use. Now, we can stream countless of social media sites through our touch screen computers and our cell phones. Media such as Facebook, Twitter, even group chat forums are used by people daily. While this adaptation is fascinating, the stress and pressure of social media can be overwhelming. Social media disrupts the lives of young adults, causing them to have personal issues that would not occur without social media.

Have you ever wondered why social media is so defective in your life, or why parents tell their children to stay off of social media? Social networking is unquestionably deficient for you physically, emotionally, and mentally. So when your parents ask you to stop checking your phone every five seconds you might want to listen. The majority of social networking users are teens or young adults(20’s). These people are, somehow, figuring out how to gain access to their phones at work, in the car while driving, at home, and even just going for a walk means it is time to check Instagram. Social networking has evolved a tremendously over the years. Numerous popular social media sites like Facebook or Instagram are still advancing, coming up with new promotions and new ways to influence others to relish the site. The more people that use these sites, the worse the environment is for people globally. Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest are just some of various social networking sites that are taking the world by storm.